Posts Tagged ‘worth’

The infant is barely off its mamma’s breasts and it waddles to play school to socialize. Pre-primary greets the naïve creature with various lines and curves. He spends a lot of time trying to strike some correlation between two objects drawn on a piece of paper. The correlation begins with “A” for “Apple.” After 26 such correlations and a million similar attempted explanations, the child enters the next level of incomplete knowledge. Here, the child questions the system, “Of what use is this?” Nobody answers. The child climbs another ladder; with ease if he is extremely lucky. Several reference books, photocopied notes, copy pasted assignments and futile exams later he gets certified. Shortly after that, the child needs to prove to his future college authorities and employers that he is a citizen of the country and has endured the education system for the claimed number of years.

The youth, left with a bunch of certificates to earn their bread or peanuts maybe.

Scenario #1: You are thrown into a group of unknown faces and asked to talk about yourself.

Limitations: None.

Challenge: Prove your worth.

Let’s see. You shake hands or drop in a “hi” or exchange smiles (warm or fake) depending on your style. You ask a series of questions about their work, their qualifications, their lifestyle and their interests. You take the opportunity to disclose your achievements, mention your university (especially if prestigious), highlight your qualifications, your hobbies, maybe talk about the family and their achievements and so on. From the information gathered you more or less figure out the pay cheque received by your opponent and you give them an idea about what you receive. Then, you switch to general topics, maybe current issues, and drop in a few jargons or argue over facts and figures (the “who knows more” discussions). By the end of the session you impress a few while some manage to impress you. You know where you stand based on the image you’ve created in the room.

Scenario #2: You are thrown into a group of unknown faces and asked to talk about yourself.

Limitations: Do not disclose your age, your qualifications, your job description, your investments and your achievements. Do not use any jargons because that may give the opponent hints. Similarly, do not talk about interests that give hints about your lifestyle.